Rishabh Pant, who retired hurt on 37 after receiving a painful blow on his right toe by Chris Woakes in the last session of Day 1, returned to the crease with courage despite rumors that a fracture was possible. Struggling with apparent pain, Pant limped between the wickets as he managed his singles.
The Indian vice-captain received a thunderous welcome from the crowd when he returned onto the field and was widely praised for his grit — even by some of his former counterparts. A single ex-cricketer, Monty Panesar, although complimenting Pant for his courage, disagreed with England captain Ben Stokes' strategy.
Panesar criticized Stokes for bombarding Pant's hurt foot with yorkers, pointing to the questionable sportsmanship involved in the move.
"Well, I believe that he is very brave, and it's extremely risky because you would not wish for him to get hurt more and he has a fractured toe. So, he's played excellent heroics from him, and he has been great in terms of bravery and demonstrated how much of a strong character he is. And I think it's the same as when Anil Kumble had his jawline fractured, what he did at that time.".
"But, I don't know, was it right for Ben Stokes to bowl so many yorkers to Pant when he already had a broken toe? It's doubtful," Panesar said to IANS.
In spite of Pant's spirited effort, England counterattacked. At stumps, they scored 225/2 in 46 overs, courtesy good half-centuries by Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, cutting down India's lead to 133 runs.
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